Load-handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A load-handling apparatus usable for mounting missiles on an aircraft comprises a low wheeled support frame provided with braking and steering facilities, a pair of separate, side-by-side cranked support arms pivoted at one end on the support frame and hydraulically linked for synchronized vertical movement relative to the support frame about a horizontal axis, and load engaging structure at the other end of each support arm. Each cranked support arm is double cranked, so that, in a side elevation, it has a stretched, flat-bottomed V-configuration and the arms are movable about a common horizontal pivot axis on the support frame by an hydraulic actuator, whereby the hydraulic fluid serves to couple the support arms together for synchronized movements. The hydraulic actuator includes a master hydraulic cylinder connecting the support frame and one support arm and a sleeve hydraulic cylinder connecting the support frame and the other support arm.

This invention relates to load-handling apparatus and is especially butnot exclusively concerned with such apparatus for presenting missiles tothe underside of the fuselage and the wings of an aircraft forattachment to missile mounting points thereon.

The problems involved in designing a load handling trolley include,inter alia, the requirement that the apparatus must be able easily andreadily to engage and lift the missile off its transport racking, whichis used to convey it from the armoury to the aircraft, the requirementthat the apparatus must be able to present the missile in correctorientation to the aircraft, i.e. vertical approach of the horizontalmissile to the underside of the fuselage, and a 45° approach to the wingpylons, the requirement that the apparatus must be able to manoeuvreunder the aircraft without risk of damage to the aircraft orundercarriage of same, and the requirement that the apparatus must becapable of presenting the missile to the wing pylon stations withoutinterference or damage to a large diameter fuel tank supported on thewing pylon.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a load-handlingapparatus which satisfies these requirements.

According to the present invention there is provided a load-handlingapparatus comprising a low support frame, a pair of separate,side-by-side cranked support arms pivoted at one end on the supportframe and hydraulically linked for synchronised vertical movementrelative to the support frame about a horizontal axis, and load engagingmeans at the other end of each support arm.

Preferably the support frame is substantially U-shaped in plan view. Itis preferably wheelmounted for ease of movement (castor wheels beingpreferred). It is preferably provided with brake means to immobilise itduring a load lifting operation (a pair of floor brakes are preferred).Finally, it is preferably provided with at least one but probably twosteering handles which may be detachable.

Each cranked support arm is double cranked so that in side elevation ithas a stretched flat-bottomed V-configuration.

The support arms are preferably movable about a common horizontal pivotaxis on the support frame by hydraulic actuating means, whereof thehydraulic fluid serves to couple the support arms together forsynchronised movements.

Preferably, the hydraulic actuating means is a master hydraulic cylinderconnecting the support frame and one support arm and a slave hydrauliccylinder connecting the support frame and the other support arm.

Preferably, each load engaging means is a support head carried by aslidable extension of each support arm and adapted partially to embracea load.

Each support head is preferably of semioctagonal configuration withretaining straps.

Preferably each support arm and its extension is connected by alevelling or trimming hydraulic cylinder, which cylinders areindependently adjustable to level or trim the disposition of the supportheads for correct presentation of the load.

The cylinders (master, slave and levelling) are preferably connected toa self-contained pump and hydraulic fluid reservoir on the support frameby convenient piping which includes selector valves for deliveringhydraulic fluid respectively to the master and slave cylinders and tothe levelling cylinders when required.

The pump preferably has a pressure relief valve for cylinder retraction.The pump is preferably manually operable.

It is desirable to provide a facility for fine angular adjustment which,with the aforesaid horizontal trimming facility, allows for compensationof aircraft attitude variations. It is also desirable to have ahorizontal traverse facility for fuel engagement of the missiles.

With this in mind, each support head preferably incorporates rollingmeans to permit rotational and/or longitudinal movements of the loadrelative to the support heads by an operator. In the case of a missilethis may be necessary to permit correct alignment of the complementarymounting points on the missile and the aircraft.

The rolling means may be ball transfer units.

Alternatively, each support head may have a subsidiary support headrotatably supported thereon by rollers, which subsidiary support framepresenting rollers on which the load is supported, there beingadjustment screw means between the support arm and the subsidiarysupport head to permit rotational movement of the latter and its loadfor position adjustment purposes.

It is also visualised that longitudinal screw adjustment of thesubsidiary support heads may be incorporated in the apparatus.

It is to be clearly understood that while the present invention isprimarily concerned with a load handling apparatus for presentingmissiles to aircraft for attachment thereto it can be adapted for otherindustrial load handling operations, and the most likely adaption is thereplacement of the aforesaid support heads by other load manipulatingmeans.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the load-handling apparatus according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a corresponding front elevation;

FIG. 3 is a corresponding side elevation;

FIG. 4 is the hydraulic circuit of the load-handling apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the presentation of missiles forattachment to an aircraft.

The load-handling apparatus comprises a low-lying (i.e. ground adjacent)support frame 10 rectangular in plan view with an open side 11 so thatit is of squared-off U-configuration in plan view. It is formed of tube(preferably square tube) with cross bracing 12.

The support frame 10 mounts at each corner a castor wheel 13 with afour-way directional lock. At its closed end 14, at each corner adjacenteach castor wheel 13 is a floor brake (not shown) of conventionalconstruction.

At each side the support frame 10 has two attachment points 15 with eachpair being adapted detachably to receive a steering handle 16.

Each side 17 of the support frame 10 is of rectangular configuration inplan view and mounts within it a support arm 18 pivotal about ahorizontal axle 19. Each arm 18 comprises a pair of parallel tubes 18A,18B which are of double cranked shape as can be seen in FIG. 3 to givethe arm an extended, flat-bottomed V configuration.

A hydraulic cylinder is mounted between the tubes 18A, 18B of each arm18. The cylinder 20 is a master cylinder while the cylinder 21 is aslave (displacement) cylinder.

Each cylinder 20 or 21 is connected to the support frame 10 at one endand to a cross pin 22 joining tubes 18A, 18B.

Within the tubes 18A, 18B of each arm 18 at the pivot axle remote end ofthe latter is a slidable extension 23 on which is fixed a support head24.

A levelling or trimming hydraulic cylinder 25 or 26 connects a cross-pin27 on each arm 18 and the corresponding slidable extension 23.

On the closed end 14 of support frame 10 is mounted a combined pump withpressure relief and hydraulic fluid reservoir 28 (see FIG. 4) with thepump being manually operable. The pump/reservoir 28 is connected byconvenient piping 29 through a manually-operable valve 30 to mastercylinder 20 which is hydraulically connected via piping 31 to the slavecylinder 21, while the valve 30 is connected by piping 32 and amanually-operable selector valve 33 and piping 34 to the levellingcylinders 25, 26.

The pump/reservoir 28, valves 30 and 33 and piping will all be assembledand carried by the closed end 14 of the support frame 10.

Here it is to be noted that the support arms 18 are not mechanicallycoupled together. They are hydraulically coupled as will be manifestfrom the above.

Each support head 24 (see FIG. 3) is of semi-octagonal configuration insid elevation and carries four ball supports 35.

Let us assume that all cylinders 20, 21, 25 and 26 are retracted. Thesupport frame 10 is moved to straddle a trolley 36 on which is supporteda semi-circular or semi-octagonal cradle 37 carrying a missile 38secured in position by restraining straps 39.

The support heads 24 are located below the cradle 37, one at each sideof the trolley 36 and the support arms 18 are elevated to allow thesupport heads 24 to lift the cradle 37 off the trolley 36. The trolley36 is then removed and the support arms 18 are lowered to the full lineposition shown in FIG. 3.

The support frame 10 is then moved to the aircraft 40 (FIG. 5) and ifthe missile 38 is to be attached to the underside of the fuselage 41then the support arms 18 are raised a relatively short distance topresent the fixing points of the missile 38 vertically to the fixingpoints on the fuselage 41.

If the missile 38 is to be fitted to fixing points on the aircraft wing42 inboard of the usual large-diameter, disposable fuel tank 43 thesupport arms 18 are raised to present the missile fixing points at anangle of 45° to the angled fixing points on the wing 42. If the missile38 is to be fitted to the fixing points outboard of the fuel tank 43 thesupport frame approach is simply reversed.

It will be noted that the geometry of the support arms 18 permit them tofollow an arcuate path around the fuel tank 43 correctly to present themissile 38 for attachment.

It will be manifest that prior to fixing the missle 38 in position,restraining straps 39 are loosened to free the missile 38 from thecradle 37.

The ball supports 35 allow both rotational and longitudinal movements ofthe cradle 37 and missile 38 to locate the fixing points on the latterexactly relative to those on the aircraft.

Finally, levelling cylinders 25, 26 are brought into operation, ifnecessary, if, for example (due to uneven ground conditions) one end ofthe cradle and missile requires vertical adjustment relative to theother end.

I claim:
 1. A load-handling apparatus, comprising: a low support frame,a pair of separate, side-by-side support arms cranked into aconcave-upwards shape and pivoted at a first end on the support frame,hydraulic actuating means hydraulically linking the cranked support armsfor synchronized vertical movement relative to the support frame about acommon horizontal pivot axis, and load engaging means at a second end ofeach cranked support arm, a slidable extension being provided at thesecond end of each cranked support arm to support and carry the loadengaging means, and the hydraulic actuating means comprising aself-contained hydraulic pump and hydraulic fluid reservoir on thesupport frame, a leveling hydraulic cylinder connecting each crankedsupport arm and its slidable extension, piping connecting theself-contained pump and the hydraulic fluid reservoir and the levelingcylinders, and first selector valve means associated with the piping andactuable to permit independent operation of the leveling cylinders toeffect leveling of the disposition of the load-engaging means forcorrect presentation of the load when required.
 2. Apparatus as claimedin claim 1, in which the hydraulic actuating means also comprises amaster hydraulic cylinder connecting the support frame and a firstcranked support arm, a slave hydraulic cylinder connecting the supportframe and a second cranked support arm, the piping connecting the masterand slave cylinders to the self-contained pump and hydraulic fluidreservoir, and a second selector valve means associated with the pipingfor delivering hydraulic fluid respectively to the master cylinder, theslave cylinder and the first selector valve means when required. 3.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which each cranked support arm isdouble cranked so that in side elevation it has a stretchedflat-bottomed V-configuration.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, inwhich the pump has a pressure relief valve for retraction of thecylinders.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the pump ismanually operated.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which thesupport frame is mounted on wheels.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6,in which the wheels are castor wheels.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim6, comprising brake means to immobilize the support frame during a loadengaging and lifting operation.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, inwhich the brake means comprises a pair of floor brakes.
 10. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 6, comprising at least one steering handle on thesupport frame.
 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10, in which the atleast one steering handle is detachable.
 12. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, in which the load engaging means is a support head carried bythe slidable extension of each support arm and adapted partially toembrace a load.
 13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which eachsupport head is of semi-octagonal configuration.
 14. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 12, in which each support head incorporates rollingmeans to permit movement of the load relative to the support heads by anoperator.
 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, in which the rollingmeans is a plurality of ball transfer units.